No. 23 Mississippi State baseball sweeps Princeton

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The No. 23 Mississippi State baseball team (10-7, 0-0 SEC) completed a series sweep over the Princeton Tigers (0-11, 0-0 Ivy League) with a pair of wins in a doubleheader on Sunday at Dudy Noble Field.

The Bulldogs won the first game 3-2 before completing the three-game series sweep with a 9-1 victory in seven innings.

GAME 1 – No. 23 Mississippi State 3, Princeton 2

MSU fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, but the Bulldogs scored two runs in the third inning and another run in the sixth inning. The Tigers cut the deficit to one run in the ninth inning, but MSU held on for a 3-2 win.

Sophomore Kellum Clark and senior Brad Cumbest both had two hits for the Bulldogs, while freshman Slate Alford was 1-for-4 with one RBI. For Princeton, junior Noah Granet was 2-for-4, while junior Brendan Cumming and sophomore Matt Scannell both added one hit and one RBI.

Senior pitcher Parker Stinnett (3-0) earned the win for MSU after allowing one run on four hits with 12 strikeouts and two walks in six innings pitched. Senior Brandon Smith then pitched a clean 1 ¹⁄₃ innings before senior Cam Tullar closed out the eighth inning and allowed a run on two hits to start the ninth inning. Sophomores Brooks Auger, Jackson Fristoe and Mikey Tepper each record an out in the ninth.

Freshman pitcher Andrew D’Alessio (0-1) allowed three runs on four hits with two strikeouts and six walks in seven innings.

In the top of the first inning, junior Alejandro Espinel and junior Nadir Lewis hit back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on the corners. Scannell then hit a hard grounder to first and beat the throw and plate Espinel to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, sophomore Lane Forsythe and senior Luke Hancock drew one-out walks before junior Kamren James was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A bases-loaded walk scored one run and a sacrifice fly from junior Logan Tanner gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.

MSU added a run to its lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Clark drew a one-out walk and Cumbest followed with a single to third base. Alford’s RBI single to left field made it a 3-1 ballgame.

In the top of the ninth inning, junior Eric Marasheski singled to right field and sophomore Nick DiPietrantonio and Granet hit singles to load the bases. Cumming’s single to left field made it 3-2. A groundout ended the game.

GAME 2 – No. 23 Mississippi State 9, Princeton 1

In the second game, MSU scored one run in the first inning and six in the second inning to jump out to an early 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs added two more runs in the fifth inning, while Princeton scored one run in the sixth inning.

Clark was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs, while graduate student RJ Yeager was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one run.

MSU sophomore pitcher Cade Smith (3-0) pitched five scoreless innings while allowing two hits, striking out seven batters and walking two. Freshman Pico Kohn then pitched the sixth inning and allowed one run on two hits. Freshman Cole Cheatham struck out two batters and walked one in the final inning.

Sophomore pitcher Tom Chmielewski (0-2) was charged with the loss for the Tigers after allowing seven runs (six earned) on five hits with three walks in two innings of work. Princeton used five pitchers total.

In the bottom of the first inning, freshman Hunter Hines reached first on a fielder’s choice after James hit a one-out single. Hines advanced on a wild pitch and made his way to third on Clark’s single. A fielder’s choice plated him and gave MSU a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs then scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a commanding 7-0 lead. Yeager led off with a single to center field. Forsythe and Hancock drew walks to load the bases and a fielding error scored Yeager. Hines followed with a two-RBI double down the right-field line and Tanner scored another run with a sacrifice fly. Clark followed with a two-run home run to right field.

Clark led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double through the right side and graduate student Jess Davis hit a pinch-hit single to put runners on the corners with one out. Davis advanced to second on a wild pitch and Yeager hit a two-RBI double down the left-field line to increase MSU’s lead to 9-0.

Princeton got on the board in the top of the sixth inning thanks to a home run to center field by Lewis to end the game’s scoring at 9-1.

The Bulldogs return to the diamond Monday to host Binghamton at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.